(i) Public Inquiry into Disappearance of Individuals a) 1 To determine whether these are cases of enforced disappearances1 as defined under the International Convention for Protection of all Article 2 of International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPED) interprets «enforced disappearance» as the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law. S U H A K A M A N N U A L R EPOR T 2017 71 2 Following the submission of the complaint, the Commission conducted several interviews of witnesses and made field visits as part of the Commission’s closed investigation into the complaint. On 5 October, the Commission formed a panel of inquiry comprising Commissioner Dato’ Mah Weng Kwai, Commissioner Prof. Dato’ Dr. Aishah Bidin and Commissioner Dr. Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Salleh, to conduct an inquiry into the disappearance of the individuals. This is the first time the Commission conducted an inquiry into a case related to the International Convention for Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances. The Panel of Inquiry is tasked with the following Terms of Reference: C H A P T E R On 21 April, the Commission received a complaint from a group of civil society organisations and the family members of the affected individuals in the disappearance of Raymond Koh, Amri Che Mat and Joshua and his wife, Ruth Hilmi. It was reported that Raymond Koh, the founder of Komuniti Harapan and a former pastor, was kidnapped by a group of individuals on 13 February 2017, and the incident was captured in CCTV recordings. Amri Che Mat, a social activist of Perlis Hope, was reported missing since 24 November 2016 when he went out in the late evening and was intercepted by a number of vehicles about 500 meters from his house. As for Joshua Hilmi and his wife Ruth, known as Christian missionaries, they were discovered missing since November 2016. The group was hoping that the Commission could hold a public inquiry into the disappearance of the individuals as they were concerned on the seemingly lack of response by the police to look into the cases and the snail-pace progress of the cases. Several candle light vigils were also organised by civil societies at several places in the country to urge the authorities to take more serious and concerted efforts to find the missing individuals.